I was just listening to LeBron James how he approaches the mental game and wanted to share some of my notes with you. He makes a statement that his mental fitness is one of his most valuable skills. His mental fitness is responsible for creating discipline, holding focus, rising above the noise, and living like a champion. Today, we dive into Lebron’s emotional management and how you can apply it in your own life.
Let’s be honest here, even if you’re one of the greatest athletes of all time you will feel some kind of emotion. That emotion doesn’t necessarily have to be the most positive one. Even a LeBron James feels nervous and anxious right before his big moments. However, what separates him from the other players in the league is his ability to create the awareness and take control of his emotions. He describes his emotions as followed:
“Emotions aren’t a bad thing. But a lot of times they can betray you, take you down, and in those big moments when the pressure is on suddenly you get nervous, fearful, and you start thinking: Can I really do this?”
Being great doesn’t automatically mean you never feel nervous when the pressure is on. However, those greats all share the same characteristic and that is to regulate emotions.
This is one of the key elements to rise to the occasion and make a name for yourself.
James shared 3 simple steps how you can regulate your emotions and succeed when the pressure is on. Follow these 3 steps in both your professional as well as personal life to get the best out of them:
1) Take a deep breath
Sounds simple and is even simpler. When your emotions run high they take charge of your body and your breathing goes wild. By focusing and taking a deep breath you take the charge of your body back and put yourself in the present moment. James also describes it like, if the mind is a machine then breath is your electricity. Fuel that engine.
2) Put on those blinders
A race horse only sees the finish line. Zero-in what the goal is. You need laser like focus on one single task. Take it one step at a time.
3) Tune out the noise
There are a 1000 things fighting for your attention. You can't take none of them on the court. When the moment arrives all this stuff needs to disappear. There's no past or future. Just YOU & the SHOT in this moment. Slide off everyone’s expectations and emotions. Just don’t react. The distractions don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the quality work that you put in to get your desired result.
Start off with these 3 simple strategies to get control over your emotions. If one of the greatest athletes of all time uses them successfully, why wouldn’t you want to put them in your tool box and start implementing them?
